HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #42 Mary Gerbracht
Butler, Bric
From:Mary Gerbracht <gerbracht.mary@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, July 30, 2024 5:33 PM
To:Butler, Bric
Cc:Joshi, Anita
Subject:Bric-Please forward to Housing Task Force
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
Hello,
Thank you for making time for me and other Carmel residents to speak at your meeting last week. I
wanted to follow up to a few of the points I made in more detail. I will address several of the questions
posed on the agenda.
Problems created by apartments:
-increased density and traffic in our suburban community
-renters typically stay in a place 18-36 months and are inherently transient. Concern that they will care
less about Carmel than owners.
-Apartment living doesn’t build wealth toward future home ownership.If economic forces change, will
there still be demand for luxury apartments? Or will they empty out, causing developers/owners to lower
rents to fill them, thereby diluting the “luxury” feeling?
-concern that the apartments will not be well maintained. My single family home neighborhood still looks
beautiful 25 years later. What will our downtown and midtown look like in 25 years with all the
density? One only needs to look at former luxury apartments in Marion County and elsewhere that didn’t
stand the test of time for examples of blight.
What is the right mix of apartments-multi family, and single family housing
-data presented to this Task Force showed 5.7% prefer apartments, 14.2 % preference for townhomes or
attached single family homes, and 73.6% preference for single family homes. Our population is about
100,000, therefore if we can house about 5700 in apartments, we don’t need more.
Could ADUs play a role in filling demand for housing?
Having moved here from southern California, I am personally opposed to city government mandating
HOAs to allow ADUs. If Carmel approves the ADU concept, with all the appropriate setbacks, size
restrictions, view restrictions, etc. please allow individual HOAs the ability to disapprove in their
communities. As President of an HOA that does not allow accessory buildings, in our neighborhood it
would take a vote and if passed, which I doubt, then a rewrite of the CC&Rs. This would incur
unbudgeted costs to the HOAs. Our HOA doesn’t allow on street overnight parking. Where would the
ADU residents park? When my job relocated us to Indiana, we moved to west Carmel specifically for the
low density and “country” feeling. Please don’t California my Carmel. If people want dense areas, they
can live in downtown, midtown, North End, etc.
Are there strategies for preservation of existing reasonably priced neighborhoods?
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-Can we protect Home Place? Can zoning be enacted that only allows a home of comparable size and
type to be built on the lot if a home is torn down for redevelopment? Please don’t bulldoze Home Place
and replace it with McMansions as was down in much of old downtown.
Other thoughts-
-Is it realistic that we provide “housing for all”? We are 1 small city in a Metropolitan Statistical Area of
more than 2 million. This is an affluent community that not everyone, including our own Millennial
children, can afford. The average commute in Carmel is 22 minutes. There are affordable places in
Marion County and other Hamilton County cities that provide a 22 minute commute to people who
choose to work here.
-Please respect the Carmel Comprehensive Plan that is less than 2 years old. Residents should be able
to count on Carmel keeping its word to citizens regarding housing types and density in an area. In the
West for example, typical lots sizes are described as 1/8 to 5 acres. Please don’t let developers shoe
horn in more dense build -to -rent and other communities that do not fit with the area. We have been
disappointed by several of the zoning “variances” that have been granted.
Sincerely,
Mary Gerbracht
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